SanDisk has developed a chip that earns it membership in the exclusive 128-gigabit club. Not content with simply matching the Micron / Intel effort, SanDisk and its partner Toshiba claim their new memory uses 19- rather than 20-nanometer cells in the production process. Shrinking the size is one thing, but SanDisk’s new chips also use its X3 / three-bit technology. Most memory stores just two bits per cell; cramming in another means fewer cells, less silicon, more savings, cheaper memory, happier geeks. Analyst Jim Handy estimates that the price per gigabyte for the tri-bit breed of flash could be as low as 28 cents, compared to 35 for the Micron / Intel equivalent. Full details in the not-so-compact press release after the break.

Most stocks–especially growth stocks–generally trend up over the long haul, so saying SELL often means betting against the odds and/or making a short-term timing call.

Stocks with excellent fundamentals don’t often go down just because they’re “expensive”–instead, they just get more expensive. So saying “SELL” based solely on valuation often sets the analyst up to be wrong.

The lack of SELL ratings makes SELL ratings sound like a complete condemnation of the company, to the point where it seems the analyst has a vendetta against it. The more polite way to tell people to sell, most folks on Wall Street whisper, is to say “hold”–or just ignore the stock altogether.

The issuance of a SELL rating often drives a stock down, hurting investors who own it. These investors will not usually say “thank you.” Instead, they’ll want your head.

Most investors are long-only, meaning they can only buy stocks, not short them. Thus, “SELL” ratings are only useful to hedge funds and investors who already own stocks.

Most companies refuse to talk to analysts who hit them with SELL ratings, thus reducing the analyst’s ability to gather information about the company.

Ready for a bevy of more exotic-sounding codenames from AMD? Well, have a seat, as the maker of everyone’s favorite APUs just revealed its roadmap extending through 2013. And folks, it’s quite the doozy. But before we delve into its technical intricacies (which you’ll find tucked after the break), we’ll begin with some general takeaways. Per CEO Rory Read, 2012 and 2013 are “all about execution,” with the company girding itself for the the next “inflection point” where it’ll excel. The key to this strategy, as he describes it, is to continue marching towards a full-SoC design that will cover a host of devices running the gamut from mainstream laptops to tablets and so-called Ultrathins, the company’s forthcoming answer to Intel’s Ultrabook onslaught.

During its announcement, timed to coincide with AMD’s annual financial analyst day, the company also stressed its unique position wedged between Chipzilla and makers of ARM chips. Ask Read and he’ll tell you that’s a key advantage f! or AMD, that its CPU and GPU IP will bring more value through a better overall experience in the market. That’s a strategy less obsessed with raw specs and sheer speed and more focused on a holistic package. Senior VP Lisa Su said AMD will aggressively enter the tablet arena this year in a big way, reiterating that AMD-based Windows 8 slates are indeed en route, though she stopped short of giving an ETA. Finally, the company’s renewing its focus in the server market, as it seeks to cut a larger slice of the cloud computing pie. That’s AMD’s 2012 / 2013 plans in a nutshell, but if you’re the kind of person who likes a few technical specifics (and who doesn’t, really?) meet us after the break for a peek at what’s in store.

The firm says that sales of those devices will reach 12 million in 2011, with Apple TV shipping 4 million.

In other words, Microsoft sold more Xboxes in a single week than Apple sells in an average quarter. And Apple is the market leader in that “connected TV players” space. At least when you ignore game consoles.

This isn’t to pick on Apple. It’s simply to point out that Microsoft’s “Trojan horse” strategy with the Xbox has worked amazingly well.

And this was absolutely part of Microsoft’s strategy from the beginning — way back in 2005 before the Xbox 360 launched, Microsoft executives were talking about trying to expand the market beyond hardcore video gamers and turn it into a more general-purpose entertainment device. But Microsoft always knew it had to make a top-notch game console first to get the installed base, then add entertainment features over time.

It’s been doing that, quietly, for more than five years now and has sold almost 60 million Xboxes in the process. With the addition of a whole bunch of TV and other video content last week, the strategy has finally reached full fruition.

Apple, Google, and other connected TV companies could still have a chance if they team up with TV makers so the software is built into your new television set. But any company who hopes to compete with the Xbox by selling an add-on box that DOESN’T play games is in a deep state of denial.

Apple’s price to earnings ratio is at a relatively paltry 14 right now, and it’s driving Apple bulls crazy.

The chart below, which shows Apple’s shrinking PE, from Apple analyst Andy Zaky has been passed around for the last week. (At the time Apple’s PE was 13.3.)

What’s wrong with this chart?

Zaky explains: “Now even though Apple’s growth has far and outpaced the growth of Oracle (16.35 P/E), Amazon (96.15 P/E), Google (19.19 P/E), Cisco (15.11), Qualcomm Inc. (20.62), Amgen, Inc (13.53), Comcast (15.11 P/E), IBM (13.95 P/E), Chevron (13.50), Johnson & Johnson (14.94 P/E), Procter & Gamble (15.49 P/E), and AT&T (13.91 P/E), the stock trades at a far lower valuation relative to these top holdings on the NASDAQ-100 and S&P 500. Some of these companies have actually contracted in 2011. Yet, the market values the earnings out of these companies on the order of 4-5 times more in some cases than they value the earnings out of Apple.”

Analysts remain divided over how much market share Pfizer will be able to hold on to. The company is aggressively discounting the drug through a program to entice patients to remain on Lipitor. Over the coming 180 days, Watson Pharmaceuticals and Ranbaxy Laboratories of India will enter the market.

Eight Citi analysts poured over data and see Pfizer retaining 40-50% of market share over the next half year. Delays out of Ranbaxy, which were prompted by U.S. regulatory bans over questionable quality concerns, will aid Pfizer.

But after the 180 days, when another round of pharmaceuticals like Teva and Aurobindo are allowed entry, the cost of Lipitor will drop to “pennies a day,” Citi analyst John Boris writes.

However, most of Lipitor’s decline has already been priced into Pfizer stock over the past year. “We maintain our Pfizer 4Q11E/2012E Lipitor sales/EPS contribution at $930M/$640M,” Boris continues. That represents a Lipitor sales contribution of 14-18% of fourth EPS, before falling to just 2% of earnings in 2012.

The largest to benefit from the change may be drug stores like CVS and Walgreens, which may see an uptick as more patients can afford to take cholesterol medications, even as average drug prices decline.

“In addition, we believe that the drugstores will be able to generate stronger gross profit dollars as the average gross margin for generic drugs is generally 50 to 60%, while the average gross margin for branded drugs is approximately 20%,” Boris says.

Digital Consigliere

Dr. Augustine Fou is Digital Consigliere to marketing executives, advising them on digital strategy and Unified Marketing(tm). Dr Fou has over 17 years of in-the-trenches, hands-on experience, which enables him to provide objective, in-depth assessments of their current marketing programs and recommendations for improving business impact and ROI using digital insights.